Tupperware Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Tupperware (NYS: TUP) beat earnings this morning, but no one seems to care. Investors are instead focusing on management's promise to earn less money in the third quarter than they had been promised -- and selling the stock off to the tune of 12%.

So what: Tupperware reported earning $1.03 per share in Q2, a 12% increase over last year's haul. But it took a 19% increase in revenues to produce this profit, highlighting weaker profit margins.

Now what: Between that trend of profitability slipping, and Tupperware's recent inability to produce free cash flow at the level it claims for "GAAP profits," I can't blame investors for starting to lose faith in the company. With just over $200 million in FCF generated for the past 12 months, Tupperware shares now sell for a rich 22 times multiple to these cash profits. That's pricey relative to analyst expectations of 15% long-term profit growth at the company -- and Tupperware's 1.7% dividend yield isn't enough to make up the difference.